


Did you see the sparks, filled with hope?('Cause you are not Alone)

by NeloQuill



Category: Inazuma Eleven GO
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2019-10-08 23:19:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17395619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeloQuill/pseuds/NeloQuill
Summary: Parental Fubuki bros-Ares!GO timeline: Atsuya is a grown man, and coach of the Hakuren team along with Shirou. These'll be mostly one-shots about Atsuya and Yukimura's inevitable shinanigans-enjoy!





	1. Food

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [stars lined up so perfectly (but not for me)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17228225) by [Jazer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jazer/pseuds/Jazer). 



> Based off of the PHENOMENAL three-part series by Jazer, this is pretty much my two cents on what Cranky Carrot Man and Sassy Snowflake Baby would get up to. And yes Jaze, I WILL quote you for a good percentage of the dialogues from Hyouga-enjoy! :3(Also yes, this IS what I'd been talking about this morning, lmao sorry I'm late)

Fubuki Atsuya was a strange man, and no one in Hokkaido would deny it. Least of all Yukimura Hyouga who, strange as though it may seem to outsiders, found himself spending more and more time with his fiery-headed coach.

But _this_. 

 _This_ crossed every line he could think of.  
Fubuki Shirou strolled into the kitchen, moving his legs around the retreating figure of his cat, Nana. He frowned-Nana _never_ retreated from the kitchen like that, not unless Atsuya was cooking-

With that thought, Shirou snapped his head upwards...to be faced with his brother in an apron, and his brother's student glaring at each other like sworn enemies.

"It's a crime! I can't let you do it, it's wrong!!", Yukimura declared, throwing a disgusted look over at the carrots Atsuya was holding on to. The other man bristled, and crossed his arms defiantly. Shirou decided to break in just now-he had _never_ seen either of them this frustrated, much less at _each other._

"Hey now, what's going on?", he asked, stepping in between them hastily, tactfully making use of his Calming Older Brother Voice.

"Its something _completely_ arbitrary", Atsuya insisted, his voice rising with every word, " because Hyouga isn't admitting that _some people have different tastes as compared to others_ -"

"He's dipping _carrots_ into _pudding_!", Yukimura retorted, pointing at the offending cook's carrots. Shirou looked back at his brother, praying for a declaration of denial-but no. He knew his brother, and he'd been on the receiving end of other man's cooking more than enough times it took to know that this was _no_ misunderstanding. Atsuya simply rolled his eyes at the child. Shirou sighed-he knew what had to be done.

"Atsuya."  
"Yeah?"  
"Go to the Timeout Corner."

"What?!", Atsuya and Yukimura both cried out-unlike his coach, Hyouga was just plain confused; what place would a time-out corner have in a house inhabited by two grown men and their cat?

"The Timeout Corner sucks!", Atsuya argued, "And the waiters all hate me anyways-"  
"It's down the road, it's not that bad, and they only hate you because you asked for extra ketchup-"

"They're a roadside diner, they had the ketchup!"  
"You were ordering _icecream_."

Hyouga shuddered. As Atsuya huffily made his way to the door, he turned to Shirou, who had already begun to clear up. Hastily joining him, the younger boy was about to speak, but Shirou had already anticipated his question.

"Atsuya has always had...strange tastes.", he began, absently stroking Nana as she poked her head around the kitchen door.

"Does Miyuki-san know?", Hyouga asked, leaning on the counter.

"She found out", Shirou responded dryly. The younger striker smiled-Miyuki-san was a sweet woman, but on _no_ account would she take Atsuya's cooking sitting down. In fact, he was ready to bet a kidney over the idea that she had tried to convert him-to obviously no avail.

It became a contest of sorts between Atsuya and his student-every time they  
had food together, Hyouga would ask if the meal was courtesy of his coach. And when Atsuya _was_ the one responsible for the strange smell coming from a pot, the man would pointedly ask his brother to taste-test it instead of his student.

Obviously, this was a system Shirou wasn't all too happy with-for multiple reasons, too. Not JUST the fact that he could feel more of his taste buds descend to hell every day. _Ofcourse_ not, he would insist-infront of everyone except Miyuki, who wasn't as easily fooled.

Miyuki was _also_ somehow dragged into it all, as a sort of judge to settle their arguements-she even suspected that Hyouga kept track of each result (knowing Atsuya, he probably did too). Almost every day would be a different debate:  
"Miyuki-chan, _please_ explain to this kid-"

"He's being an old man again, Miyuki-chan!"

"JUST because I said he should tell me if he ever gets in trouble via homing pigeons because that's what me and Aniki did sometimes-"

Then Shirou would interrupt, either quelling the situation or making it worse:  
"Was this also the time when Mom scolded us for letting the turkey we thought was a pidgeon loose to deliver a message to the ice cream guy?", Shirou asked, gratefully accepting a cup of tea from Miyuki's tray.

"Yeah, that time!", Atsuya returned, grinning at his brother and recalling the icecream-man's frightened yell-it turned out that he was afraid of birds.

"Just checking", Shirou nodded, sipping tea and watching Hyouga's expression go from intrigued to concerned. How many other times had these two let cranky birds loose in hopes of reaching the outside world?

Regardless, it was almost a week before the Rice Incident ended this war:

Sunday afternoon found Shirou, Atsuya and Hyouga at the brothers' home, idly passing time together as the coaches looked over paperwork, and their student did homework. Atsuya would occasionally have a spoonful of rice-rice with mayonnaise and soy sauce, no less. 

After an hour or so, Hyouga sighed.  
"What's wrong?", Atsuya asked, "Want some rice _that_ badly?"

Shirou could have smashed his head against a table.  
"No, I just thought it was a shame we didn't send the rice off with a prayer", the younger striker replied cooly, "Just thought it was a shame we didn't send it off with proper funeral rites, that's all."

Shirou prepared himself to intervene, and Atsuya looked up at his student, a competitive glint in his eye.

"Tell you what", he challenged, "You give my cooking a taste-just _one_ spoonful of this rice-and if you like it, you can't shame it again, but if you _don't_ -"

"If he does like it, I'll take a spoonful too, and if he doesn't, you don't mention it ever again", Shirou interjected, looking at Hyouga.

"Hyouga, it's all up to you now.", Atsuya nodded seriously, as his student stepped up and made a face at the spoon in his hand. Both men had momentarily abandoned paperwork and stood up-Atsuya did so in anticipation, Shirou in case they needed the first aid kit. He looked back at the other two one more time and raised a toast with the spoonful of rice-before downing it in one go.  
.  
..  
...  
No.  
_No way._  
But his eyes told the truth his mouth was too full to tell. As soon as they began to sparkle, Atsuya jumped and punched the air, yelling out in victory. Shirou only stared, silently praying that the sparkle was due to spices or literally _anything_ else-but no. Hyouga was lost. Gone. On the Dark Side.  
"No way", he said as soon as he could, face full of confusion and mingled horror at himself.  
"Hey, brother _dearest_ ", Atsuya called out to the retreating figure of his brother.  
"Don't forget, _you_ have to try it too now!"  
  
Two hours later, Shirou holding his face in his hands, sitting with a sympathetic Miyuki at her house, while Atsuya and Hyouga sat (the student was still in shock) in the corner, banned from her kitchen.  
"He's on the dark side now.", Shirou reported, his voice full of dread. Miyuki nodded sympathetically.  
"Atsuya's soy-sauce rice?"  
"With mayonaise."  
They both shuddered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funfact for those of you who don't know: I've done ALL of Atsuya's food atrocities, and they. Are. all. D e l i c i o u s .(pro tip: vanilla ice cream with ketchup is best, everything else generally overpowers the ketchup! OwO)


	2. Pet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyouga picks up a puppy to shelter during an incoming storm-but why is Atsuya suddenly being so stiff? And why is Shirou acting strange about it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayy, look at that-a longer one! Those one's a bit interesting to the 'story' of soorts+it links a bit more with the work this was inspired from(Again, Jazer's series is mindnumbingly good, please do give it a read!)

Fubuki Atsuya was never the type to say no to extra training, and neither was his pupil. If anyone could match the older striker's stubborn pride when it came to training under harsh conditions, it was Yukimura Hyouga.

However, a raging blizzard hanging over their necks like an axe wasn't exactly what either of them had in mind for the evening.

"I texted Aniki, he knows we're coming and says he'll your parents, alright rascal?", Atsuya panted, hauling his bag behind him, and cursing Hakuren for having the coach do more paperwork to carry than the librarian.

Hyouga simply nodded, trying to keep up and ignore the warning winds already starting up-when he heard something. Something _other_ than the harsh howl of Hokkaido's winter.

Hyouga lifted his head and looked around-there! A dash of blue and golden-

It was a _dog_!  
Hyouga had always loved animals;they loved sincerely and were _cuddly_. Enough said. And dogs? Did he even _need_ to elaborate? He made his way to it.

"Hey-where are you going, Chibi?", Atsuya yelled against the weather, "Don't know about you, but I don't plan to spend my twenties as a popsicle!"

"There's a dog here!", Hyouga yelled back. "And?"  
"We can't just leave it!"  
Atsuya seemed to hesitate, then spoke up again, "Does the mutt's collar have an address?"  
"Its 14th Njord street-"  
Atsuya cursed to himself. They needed to get home NOW. And Hyouga wouldn't leave the dog, which meant...

"What are you waiting for, Chibi? Grab the mutt and move!", he said, abruptly, "But you get to carry it-"

" _Her_ , not it", Hyouga asserted, already up and sprinting to catch up with Atsuya.

Admittedly, he was a little surprised-whenever he was truly tired, Atsuya-senpai would sense it instantly-and then it would take half an hour's worth arguing to make sure that the man didn't _carry_ his student home-maybe he was tired today too?

"And Snoots can run by herself just fine!"  
" _Who_?"  
" _Snoots"_ , Hyouga repeated, "That's the name on the collar."

Atsuya shook his head and his eyes fell on the dog. The snowy pomeranian gave him a playful bark-he made sure to keep his eyes on the sidewalk after that, for his own good.  
  
Shirou opened the door as soon as they rang the bell(Hyouga suspected he had been waiting near the door). The grey-haired man had a hot chocolate in one hand, and pointed hurriedly to a side-table, which had two more steaming mugs ready for them.

"Get in, take a mug and go to the fire place-don't burn your clothes and-", Shirou paused mid-lecture and stared at Snoots.

"Uh, Shirou-senpai? Would it be okay if we keep Snoots for a while?", Hyouga asked, nervously watching Shirou glance between Snoots and Atsuya, "Her owners live across town, and we couldn't leave her outside-"

"Of course its fine", Shirou interjected, smiling. He looked back at Atsuya, as the latter made his way towards the fireplace.  
After a bit of fussing on Shirou's part, Hyouga was standing what was deemed a safe distance from the fireplace and both brothers were sitting down. Snoots yipped and ran back and forth between the three-Shirou and Hyouga gave in to her eyes, and usually ended up giving her fruit or a pat.

"So", Shirou asked, finally done lecturing Hyouga about almost burning his uniform, "How was your extra practice session?"

Normally when he came over, this question would be addressed to Hyouga-but now, Shirou was pointedly watching his brother, who simply shrugged.

"It was fine."  
"Just 'fine'?"  
"It was _fine_ , Aniki."  
"And what about right after? Did you two get lost or something on the way? Was the wind really harsh?"  
"We were okay."  
"Just 'okay'?"  
"Yeah."  
"Hyouga-san, could you get the marshmallows?", Shirou asked abruptly, taking Hyouga by surprise for a minute, "The bag is in the cupboard closest to the window, next to the sink, you can't miss it."

"Oh-okay!", Hyouga grinned at Shirou briefly, then went into the kitchen quickly. He found the bag easily enough, and made his way back-when Shirou's voice, uncharacteristically tense, made him stop in his tracks.

"Atsuya, are you _sure_ -?"  
"Aniki, I've already said I don't give a shit, alright?!"  
"I can ask Hyouga-san if we can move Snoots to one room-"  
"I _said_ it's fine!"  
"That's what you said before you ran like a headless chicken from aunt's Alsatian and got bitten-"  
"Aniki-!"

That's when Hyouga decided to step in. He did his best to hide how much his hands were shaking-had he caused them trouble somehow? What did he do? Should he have just left Snoots in the snow?

 

_Was he just an inconvenience to them, too?_

"I got them", he announced, briskly offering the bag to Shirou, who smiled and popped an extra few into his mug-probably more than what was healthy, Hyouga thought. He looked at Atsuya, trying to read him-he just looked like he was trying to catch a nap, not annoyed or even fakely content(not that Atsuya would ever bother fabricating a grin-otherwise it would be a question of whether he was abducted by aliens or impersonated, simple as that.)

The only reason why Atsuya wasn't asleep was Snoots: the dog was pawing at the coach's leg and yipping constantly.

"Atsuya-senpai, I think Snoots actually likes you", he said, coming over. Eager to make the dog as less of a bother as possible, he picked Snoots up and put her on the sofa, where she wasted no time in tucking herself into the crook of Atsuya's arm. The man visibly stiffened, then relaxed his shoulders.

"You'd best not snore, mutt.", he told Snoots firmly, before closing his eyes.

"Says the one who keeps Nana up so she sleeps in _my_ room", Shirou commented cooly, grinning at Hyouga.

"Untrue! Its because she likes you more!"  
"You stepped on her tail _thrice_ in the first week we had her-"  
"She got in the way too much, I wasn't used to a furry demon rubbing at my legs every five minutes!"  
"You _did_ manage to get used to keeping a stache of Band-Aids in your pockets for every time you accidentally kicked her, though."

Atsuya didn't answer, and created what he thought was a dignified silence, while Hyouga wordlessly offered the awake coach a Snakes and Ladders board from under the couch. Shirou nodded, and chose a green game piece, letting Hyouga have the blue.  
Hours went by, and the wind outside didn't die down. Not that Hyouga cared-the more time he spent away from his temporarily-empty home, the better it would be for his mental well-being. And the motivation to beat Shirou at least _once_ kept his mind off of returning to said home in the first place. At one point, he leaned back while Shirou made his move, and looked at Atsuya-the man was fast asleep, looking more peaceful than he ever was while awake, with Snoots asleep in his elbow, nuzzling into the man's signature brown jacket's black fur collar. Shirou, watching the grin playing across Hyouga's face, quirked an amused eyebrow.

"Their hair looks the same", Hyouga pointed out, stifling a laugh, as Shirou nodded, Atsuya's hair was more fluffy than it looked-he could testify for the fact that one could actually hide small items in Atsuya's fluffy mound(a pill-bottle full of candy, for example. It was understandably ill-advised to store bubblegum there, however). He smiled softly at the sight of how peaceful his brother looked-next to a dog, of all things.

"He really does care about you alot, doesn't he?", Shirou smiled, watching his brother.

"But today I was just in the way, wasn't I?", Hyouga murmured, looking away.

"What makes you think like that?", Shirou asked, surprised.

"Well-he didn't even talk to me after we picked up Snoots! Maybe I should've dropped him off at Miyuki-san's? Or maybe I shouldn't have bothered Atsuya-senpai by picking up Snoots in the first place-", Yukimura went on, vocalising his train of thought from when he'd first heard the older men talking in hushed voices with him out of the way. Shirou however, simply smiled.

"You know, when we were younger, Atsuya was known as the Bear Killer-rumour had it he wasn't afraid of ANYTHING", he said, "And you know him, he's still just as stubborn."

Hyouga nodded, listening carefully.

"But", Shirou went on, "What most people don't know is that Atsuya DID have a fear-and he STILL has it-he's always been terrified of dogs."

Hyouga was shocked into silence for a full minute, wherein he only stared at his coach, resting peacefully with his greatest fear nuzzling his jacket.

"Wait", he started, "So Atsuya-senpai, he-"

"Only gathered up the courage to be anywhere near Snoots because YOU picked him up?", Shirou asked rhetorically, grinning now , "Yes, of course."

Hyouga thought about that for a bit.

A few hours later, the storm died down, and Hyouga was able to go back home(Atsuya had woken up by this time and insisted on driving him). He kept Snoots in the backseat, and returned him quickly, being sure to escape before his owner (a fussy old woman, hysterically glad for the return for precious pup) asked him to come in.

Right before turning the door handle to his own house, Hyouga turned around. Atsuya stood in front of his car, looking at his student's family home the way he always did: with a trained expression of neutrality. Hyouga's trained eye could see the well-veiled frustration bubbling up inside the man-so painfully different from the determined furrow in his brow when they trained, or the softness in his edges when he'd been with Snoots.

He didn't give himself time to think twice, and ran back to throw his arms around a rather startled Atsuya. The man actually took a step back, then returned the hug, patting his student on the back(albeit a bit awkwardly).

"What's the occasion, kid?", Atsuya asked, and Hyouga was amused to hear a tone of mild confusion.

"Last time you were this sentimental was when we made chocolate-syrup and butter sauce to have with popcorn-"

"Thank you-for letting me bring Snoots, and for not telling me to keep her away from you", Hyouga began, "And-"

"Shirou told, huh? Good grief, someday I'll spill the beans on HIM too-meanwhile, " Atsuya interrupted, and put a hand on the younger striker's shoulder.

"I want you to know one thing, kid: you can drag a DRAGON into my house and I'll roll with it, alright? Your dorky grin matters more to me than having to spend half an hour sweeping under the couch for dog hair. Understood?"

Hyouga raised a brow and crossed his arms,

"My 'dorky' grin?"  
"And even if your taste in food was pretty bad-"  
"My taste in food was NORMAL-"  
"Before my GREAT influence, right?"  
"I'd say you're the best influence", Hyouga smiled, "Please don't make me turn to REAL natsy food, I don't think my stomach can take it."

Atsuya, who had been expecting a snarky jab at his cooking, was touched. He stood and gaped for a minute, before his student's grin snapped him out of it. He could almost FEEL Shirou stifling a laugh.

"Why, you-!", he began, only to be interrupted by Hyouga not being able to hold his laugher back any longer. He rolled his eyes until his student's laughter died down-only to be replaced by the cold quiet that surrounded the house they were standing in front of. Atsuya and Hyouga both looked back at the house-the coach suddenly felt far more uncertain about leaving Hyouga alone there.  
And he knew what alone _meant_ , in those few dark weeks where each brother had been addled enough in the head to blame the other for their family being ripped apart-his blood went cold at the memory of endlessly staring at empty white walls and hearing nothing but the ticking clock for hours, even on days like this. Things he had said, done...made even Bear Killer Atsuya visibly wince and recoil, no matter when it was that the memories struck back :walking to campus, reading at home, alone in his room-even one stray thought, one dark memory.  
He shook his head-there was _no_ way he would let this happen.

"Say, Chibi-"

"It seems like you left your bag at our place, Hyouga-san", Shirou broke in.

Hyouga and Atsuya blinked at eachother-he was right, neither of them had thought to check for his bag, in the rush that was getting Snoots into a car(it took three balloons, a lot of confusion on Snoots' part and half of everyone's weekly supply of sanity, but they managed it.).

  
"And it's a bit too late to go back, get your bag, and come back here", Shirou continued thoughtfully, "And we do have a guestroom-"

  
"Wait", Hyouga interrupted, not completely processing it, "You don't mean-"

  
"You're stuck with us for two weeks, rascal!", Atsuya yelled, thumping Hyouga on the back(a little TOO hard, Hyouga thought).

  
_Two weeks? As in-_

  
"Let's get your PJs and pacifier, yeah? Race you to the house!"

"I don't have a PACIFIER, I'm 15! Hey, don't slam into the door, its locked-!"

Too late. Atsuya was now nursing a bruise on his forehead. Hyouga made no attempt to hide a smug smirk while unlocking the door, while Shirou made a mental list of nessessities to pack up.

"I bet I can get to your room before you can, Chibi-!"

"We'll need to get your toothbrush, pajamas for sure, casual clothes, warm sweaters-maybe we should ask Miyuki-san for help, or at least tell her what we're doing-?"

"I'll make everyone tea!"

"Atsuya, you are NOT allowed near the kitchen."

"But Aniki-!"

_These next two weeks were going to be wild._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Quirked an amused eyebrow" is probably the weirdest shit I've ever written-and knowing Inazuma Eleven, it isn't gonna be the weirdest ^w^


	3. Invite Kou

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can Atsuya teach math? No. Is he going to a admit it sitting down? Also no.

Monday morning had been strange for Hyouga so far; (he hadn't even prepared his own breakfast; Shirou-san had simply pointed him towards a steaming mug of chocolate with two marshmallows in, and told him that the eggs and toast would be done soon. Hyouga had proceeded to gape at his coach in surprise-until Atsuya passed by and helped himself to a marshmellow, asking his brother about the hygienic properties that meritted the confection's place on the breakfast table. Shirou simply pointed out that Atsuya's eggs were starting to smoke, and Hyouga snapped out of it.) but Monday _evening_ would be something he would think back to for weeks.

Hyouga was stumped. Completely lost in the sauce. He'd zoned out nearly the entire first hour of school and, as a result, retained nearly zero memories of math class. How convenient-his worst subject. Kou had asked if he wanted notes, but Hyouga had declined; he could figure simultaneous equations out, what did it matter if the equations had two variables instead of one? And that there were two equations to solve at the same time? And that they had to somehow equate to each other?

As it turned out, it _did_ matter, and it evidently showed on his face-Shirou looked up from his work.

"Hyouga? Is anything wrong?", he asked, starting to stand up.

"No-um", Hyouga hastily began, then paused, under the look both coaches gave him, "Do you know anything about simultaneous equations?"

Shirou immediately made his way to the kitchen. Hyouga blinked, watching him go. Did they keep textbooks in there, or was the word 'equation' a deadly swear word in this house, and Shirou had moved away in pure disgust?

These thoughts were pretty much slammed out of Hyouga's head when a heavy hand clapped his back(a little  _too_ enthusiastically, the student thought).

"My time to shine!", Atsuya declared, twirling his pencil triumphantly, "Aniki always  _hated_ math and physics-he liked reading old, useless stories more-"

"You don't get to call history 'useless' just because you failed it almost every time", Shirou's voice rang out of the kitchen, and Hyouga didn't bother hiding his grin, contrasting (nicely so, in his opinion) with Atsuya's pout.

" _As I was saying_ ", the coach continued, "Math is pretty much my super power, alright? So let's see what you've got!"

However, after half an hour, Hyouga was even _more_ confused-he didn't remember much from class, but he was VERY sure that the teacher had done nothing the way Atsuya was doing it. And the man was getting increasingly frustrated by the instructions in Hyouga's textbook. After what seemed like five hours, Shirou came back with a tray of biscuits, and they took a small break. However, coffee and a jam biscuit didn't stop Atsuya's ongoing rant.

"-But Aniki, they can't _change math_ , it doesn't matter how many years its been, there's no expiration date for the way you deal with _numbers_ , for God's sake-"

"So you're admitting you're old?", Hyouga wanted to know.

"Maybe we should call for additional help", Shirou broke in, before Atsuya could respond, "Like someone from the team-as far as I know, Kou has generally good grades, and I'm sure she wouldn't mind-"

Hyouga nearly choked on a cookie. _Call_   _kou over?_ But she lived a whole fifteen minutes away! The situation wasn't _that_ dire, and anyway, missing homework _once_ wouldn't be bad-

"There's no need to call anyone over!", Hyouga protested out loud this time, receiving a somewhat pained look from Shirou-and an offended one from Atsuya.

"What do you _mean_  additional help?", he pouted, "I'm a great teacher!"

Now it was Shirou and Hyouga's turn to give _Atsuya_ cynical stares.

"I'm calling Kou, her parents' number should be in the team's forms", Shirou stated blandly, and rifled through a few of the papers he had been working with. Hyouga fidgeted the entire time, from when he heard Kou's voice through the phone, to when Shirou put the landline down, and informed him that she would be here in twenty minutes.

When she arrived, Kou didn't look like she  
 felt out of place, or even lightly frustrated about having to take time out to come over for who knew how long. It was almost like it WASNT something to be afraid of, to call for help when you needed it.

She didn't waste time and, in effect, didn't let Hyouga's mind wander while studying. After about an hour or so, they were even done with the homework assigned to them, and both could out cries of victory-and sighs of relief. Shirou bought refreshments, and the students began to pack up.

"Tonight, I'm making sure you sleep _before_ eleven", Shirou informed a horrified Hyouga, who turned to Kou for defense-and proceeded to get attacked yet more.  
"Really, Yukimura-san", Kou scolded, "Either take to going to sleep earlier, or carry a thermos of coffee around like Coach Atsuya-"

"And WHAT'S wrong with an irregular sleep schedule, might I ask?", Atsuya's voice rang out from his room, as he strolled in, "Dunno about you boring rascals, but I like a little difference in my day-to-day routine-its healthy, right Aniki?"

Atsuya looked to Shirou for defense-and _also_ proceeded to worsen his case by the second.  
"Maybe it would also be healthy to not disturb them fifteen times in half an hour", Shirou commented lightly, with absolutely no change to his expression, sipping tea. Atsuya bit down on a cookie (from Shirou's share) and theatrically put a hand to his heart.

"My own flesh and blood! My own sibling conspiring against me!!", he proclaimed, leaning heavily on Shirou's chair, as if he needed support from this emotional stab in the chest. Hyouga rolled his eyes and grinned, but Kou didn't-she seemed to be looking over Atsuya's shoulder, and into his room.

"Is that a piano in there?", she asked, seemingly without thinking. Hyouga thought he saw her eyes widen for a second at that-she wasnt an impulsive person-but this instance seemed... _different_.

"Yes, Atsuya's been playing piano since we were children", Shirou nodded to his brother, who immediately straightened up and importantly dusted his collar. Shirou paused.

"Do you play too?"

Kou fidgetted absently with the tablecloth.

"I...yeah, sometimes-"

" _Well_ , missy", Atsuya broke in, " _I'm_ the only one allowed to show off around here, so we'll have to wait till school tommorrow if you want to challenge me-"

Hyouga, despite the situation, snorted. "Because she'd beat you in a contest with no remorse?"

"Aniki decides who wins", Atsuya immediately challenged, slamming his hands on the table.

"Winner gets to style the loser's hair, and they need to go to school like that tommorrow. Deal?"

"Kou, do you remember about how we used to talk about putting Atsuya-senpai in pigtails?"

It seemed that the thought of Bear Killer Atsuya, ex-player from Inazuma Legend Japan, in pigtails was enough to shatter Kou's shell.

"You're on, Coach!"

Before long, everyone was assembled in Atsuya's (surpringly not too messy, although cluttered with keepsakes) room. Atsuya was to go for first, and Kou was to continue the melody they agreed on, until it was over, or until one of them messed up-the discussion about which melody to use was completely lost on Hyouga (and Shirou too, if his vacant expression was anything to go by).

The tune they decided on was called "Memories".

Atsuya began with high notes, gentle notes-almost music-box like. It made Hyouga think of wind chimes and lullabies. Kou, who was sitting on the other side of the bench, was lost in thought.

She had never hated piano. It was fun, and playing music casually was fun. And she wasn't against playing piano, either: it _was_ a beautiful instrument, and this tune in particular-

As soon as she had opened her mouth and asked about the piano, she felt that fate had been guiding her back-back down the path she had been afraid to look back to again. The same path that had held thorns and anguish for her at so many turns, in so many different ways...wouldn't it be easier to forget it ever happened? Keep the piano in the living room covered with a white sheet, never to be mentioned again?

This melody-she remembered finding it, and listening to it for the first time. She remembered feeling tears at the sides of her face after playing it perfectly for the first time, after dozens of tries-right before telling her parents that she couldn't continue like this. That just like in the song, she was repeating the same routine over and over again-listen to a song, find sheet music, practice, repeat-for far too long, and for something she didn't _want to do anymore._  
And just like the song, her own sound, her own voice was fading, it was becoming less significant in all of the praise and expectations now on her shoulders-a burden that was for the most part, created for her by her parents. She knew they had meant the best when they encouraged her to continue, that every artist has a phase of feeling withdrawn, that she could take a break if she wanted-but a simple break wasn't what she had _needed_. She had _needed_ to go and persue a longstanding fascination of her own: Journalism.

And lucky for her, Yamada-sensei had been there for her.

And now, so was the rest of the soccer club and her peers-as well as Shirou and Atsuya, who were as good as any uncles or relatives she had.

"Kid?"

Kou jolted slightly-apparently Atsuya was still playing, but only carrying the tune forward for her to pick up. He was looked at her sceptically, while Shirou and Yukimura behind him only looked worried.  _They were...worried about her._

"You're really eager to lose this bet, aren't you, kid?"

Kou smiled, and placed her hands on the keys, her mind already making a pattern out of Atsuya's ongoing melody, and ways to ease into it smoothly.

"Yukimura?"

"Yeah...?"

"There are extra hair-ties in my bag-bring the ones with the big red beads", she requested, and looked Atsuya in the eyes, "We'll need them in a bit."

  
  
The next day, all of Hakuren, as well as the neighbourhoods around had quite the spectacle to see: Kou Risana, only recognisable for her red eyes, coming to school with hair slicked up into horn like spikes on either side of her head, reminding some of the older staff of a certain hot-headed, scarf-clad spitfire they'd had to teach ten years ago. Speaking of Atsuya, it was surprising to see his uncharactistically blank face, too-most folk had never seen the man this quiet.

But then again, none of them had ever seen him in pigtails, either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Excuse me while I yeet myself back into homework, and also I'll do my best to have the next chapter up tomorrow, or REALLY late today, so woo!


	4. Hobbies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyouga happened to have hobbies outside of soccer. 'Happened', in past tense. Well. Maybe he never entirely stopped liking knitting, or singing, or violin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was...meant to be a fic that updated weekly....oops ^^' Side warning that this one is kind of a debbie downer, but since I'm not legally allowed to write a sad ending, its not that bad! The emotions, that is. The writing quality I can make no promises for :):):):):)

Yukimura didn't know when he'd begun to like singing lullabies-it just seemed to be a special bond between himself and his mother, a special tradition of sorts, to sing a lullaby every single night together.  
So at first, it wasn't wrong if his five-year-old self joined in, lisping along to 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'. At first, it was like a game to Hyouga-how many songs could he remember at once? How quickly could he learn them? After they moved into an apartment instead of a house like they had initially planned, Hyouga used the rubber ball (it was initially bought to facilitate a pet, only for them to realize that the apartment complex didnt allow dogs) to make a beat. Then that became a game, too: how many different ways could he throw the ball against the floor? Or, as the idea evolved in his now seven-year-old mind, in how many ways could he KICK the ball to make a beat?  
But then his father decided that the noise bothered his work far too much.  
So he stopped.

  
Yukimura Hyouga, now ten years old, contemplated slamming the door. Deciding that any display of anger would mean even *more* trouble, he closed the door lightly, then proceeded to pace in his room.  
Knitting was a _form_  of art, wasnt it? Why did they hate _that_ too? Hyouga looked at his shelf, where he had two scarfs and what looked like a hat(more like misshapen bowl, but Hyouga had tried his best, and that was satisfying enough), along with two balls of yarn, and the two pencils he had used as improvised knitting needles.  
For the first time, Hyouga wished he could _shatter every single pencil in this house_ -starting with the one on his desk, right next to his newest sketch.  
Didn't he hear somewhere that exerting strength had a calming effect? Absently, Hyouga kicked at a fallen yarn ball, meaning for it to hit the wall-  
It went towards his desk. More specifically, towards the small indent at the side to stand pencils in-and halved the one he had been glaring at mere seconds ago.  
Hyouga stared at the mess for a bit, before hastily scooping it away when he heard his mother climbing up the stairs(a muffled sound, due to the carpets, but he'd trained himself to catch on to it).  
The next day, the yarn was gone, too.  
  
When Hyouga turned eleven, a mysterious package arrived at his house. He remembered his father reading the address, then claiming it was a prank, and a useless one at that. But he never threw the package away.  
An opportunity arose the next day, when Hyouga's Father received a call during lunch-the man glanced at the caller ID, then immediately made his way out of the room. Hyouga also excused himself, feigning a choking fit, and ran upstairs-all the way to the corridor with his parents and his own bedroom. He didn't have to look far in his parents' room for the package-it hadn't even been unwrapped.  
Hyouga carefully peeled the paper back, so that he could reapply it afterwards-and a black and white ball rolled across the floor. Along with it, the paper held a rectangular box, signed 'Happy twelfth birthday! -Aunt Kotone'. That was strange-Aunt Kotone hadn't contacted them his family in years-not that he knew of, anyway.  
Still keeping an attentive ear to the door, Hyouga lifted the box's lid-sneakers? No, these were soccer cleats, the type that the soccer club wore at school. Inside the box lid was another message:  
"Hiroshi, remember how much fun we used to have, playing outside in between arts classes and homework? I'm sure Hyouga-san would love it too-even if football was never either of our specialty at all! I hope you're all doing well!"  
Now Hyouga was just plain confused: since when did his father ever do _anything_ besides art? Come to think of it, he'd never really thought about his parents' childhood at all-  
"Hyouga? What are you doing up there?", his mother's voice called from the dining room.  
"Just clearing my throat, Ill be down in a minute!", Hyouga called back, in what he hoped was a satisfyingly hoarse voice. He began to look for the football, to wrap it back and throw the package back to where it was before, heaven forbid, his mother came upstairs-but something made him pause.  
He had never really  _trird_ football before.  
And the old rubber ball he had was about the right size for it to look like it had been previously wrapped in with the shoes. Hyouga's mind began to work in over drive: would he need the shoes? Not if he was only going to practice as a rookie, and what if he just didn't like soccer? He liked kicking the rubber ball against the wall well enough-but that was only when he was frustrated, that didn't count! Or did it?  
Without giving his fevered mind any more time to delay him, Hyouga removed the sneakers and threw a few old clay figurines into the box's padding-it would have to be close enough to its original weight, and if Hyouga's father checked the box, he wouldn't care enough to read the inside of the box and assume it was a prank, just like he'd said it was.  
And that's when Hyouga began to sneak away at night to practice soccer.  
  
By his twelveth birthday, Hyouga hadnt expected much-his new hobby had recently gotten him into trouble at school, and the principal was talking about having to transfer him. _For playing a sport the way he wanted to, of all things_. It wasn't like he was breaking any rules, and anyway, how was someone supposed to progress if they just held back all the time? It was so petty. Well-he _might_  have called the coach and old sot, but he was asking for it!  
Nevertheless, this hadnt sat well with Hyouga's parents, and he was currently walking on eggshells around them-until dinner that night, when his mother pulled an ovalline package from a bag, and handed it to him. Hyouga had watched enought movies to know exactly what it was: *a violin case.*  
Hyouga looked up, irrediculous. What in the  _world-?_  
"A real artist is a person with more than one primary skill", his mother began, smiling.  
"A violin should help fine-tune your wrist control, and be a good disciplinary pasttime."  
_Ah. So that was it._  
"Thanks, Mom. Dad.", Hyouga gave his mother a mechanical grin to match her own.  
"I'll make you proud."  
Everything faded again when Hyouga couldn't manage to do just that.  
  
But on evenings like this, while Atsuya-senpai played piano, Shirou-san casually lead a beat by tapping the table, Miyuki-chan sang and Hyouga played along-none of that mattered anymore.

He was here. He was with them. And he was happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Allow me a headstart before chasing me w/ pitchforks, if you please, I can suggest ointment for what your eyes had to face just now UwU


End file.
